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Innovative Casino Machine Designers Thriving

Posted by simoniker on from the more-money-less-problems dept.

Thanks to Wired for their article discussing the success of ex-arcade designers in the casino machine business. The article focuses on Larry DeMar, once the co-creator of classic arcade titles such as Robotron, Defender, and Stargate, but now producing innovative video poker games such as Multi-Strike which "..add an element of fun to machines that traditionally have been routine gambling devices." According to industry executive Joe Kaminkow, "By making a game entertaining, you can enhance the wins and soften the losses for your players. You learn to give your players good cookies - things that are fun and exciting. Good designers understand how to dole out those cookies in just the right amount." Since a top-selling game "can reap more than $1 million per month in royalties for its creator", gambling machine design is a bigger business than many might think.

4 of 22 comments (clear)

  1. Captain Obvious Strikes Again! by Violet+Null · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Wonder why it took so long. Any arcade game designer knows that if your game is fun, there are people who will be willing to pump quarters into it all day long for a zero percent return on their investment. Given that, actually getting something back, even if it's only thirty percent of what you put in, would seem to just be an additional draw.

    1. Re:Captain Obvious Strikes Again! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I think that most 'fun' games are skill based, and you can't have a casino game, that is skill based. Unskilled players will lose to much money, and therefore stop playing, while skilled players will win to much.

    2. Re:Captain Obvious Strikes Again! by Violet+Null · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Just because a game accounts for skill doesn't mean it's based entirely on skill. You can easily have a game that is part skill, and still have the majority be luck driven (such as, say, poker).

      Unskilled people play arcade games and lose money, so there's no reason as to why they wouldn't play a game that would occasionally give them some money back. As for skilled people, you just need to make sure that luck is enough of a force to keep the skilled player from being able to consistently beat the machine. That would involve making the game "unfair", but, hey, it pays money out occasionally.

  2. Re:but is it moral? by cafall · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Do you see anyone with a gun to aforementioned senior citizen's head? Gambling is a choice and simply one of the noisier and more colorful ways to blow a paycheck (or social security check).

    Personally, I'd buy a better video card or anime. Neither directly contribute to my or society's well-being; they're just entertainment.

    Having grown up in Nevada, USA, I think gambling is one of the most disgusting forms of entertainment, but I choose not to participate while all those people dropping coins keep me from having to pay state income tax.

    It's what I like to call a symbiotic relationship. :)